Memorial Service Set for Gavin Powell; Time and Location for Matt Miller's Changed

Memorial services have been finalized for Gavin Powell and Matt Miller, the Las Lomas High juniors who died this past weekend while rafting along one of the creeks that run through downtown Walnut Creek.  

The service for Powell, 17, will take place Saturday, Feb 26 at 2 p.m., at the, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. 

The time and location for the Sunday memorial service for Matt Miller has been changed to accommodate the many family and friends expected to attend. The service, originally scheduled to take place at Congregation B'nai Tikvah, will instead take place at 3 p.m. at St. Matthew Luthern Church, 399 Wiget Lane just off Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek. 

Matt's father, Bob Miller, also asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to an organization that Matt strongly supported, East Bay Amigos, an organization dedicated "to teaching and practicing environmental sustainability in our local chapter as well as in Latin America." Bob Miller said you can visit the organization's website to donate. 

Gavin's mother, Julie Powell, gave Walnut Creek Patch permission to run this beautiful, heartbreaking video, showing her beloved only child and his best friend, Matt, as their friends and family remember them: Smiling, laughing, sometimes being goofy, sometimes contemplative, standing on a beach, climbing outdoors, in the company of friends. The video, for Matt Miller and Gavin Powell, is by classmate Miranda Lenore and is set to the music of Kansas' "Dust in the Wind." 

I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone